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[Gattsu25]

Konami is exiting the console market because it isn't very profitable. Production costs have risen so high that risks are incredibly expensive, which is why we're seeing so few new IPs and so few major releases, period. Only the very few winners at the very top (Call of Duty, GTA, Elder Scrolls) are making real money. To make matters worse, development costs continue to rise relentlessly. And so Konami are leaving, more or less, for other markets like gambling and fitness centers and so forth.

You can't boycott Konami, they're already boycotting you.

This is good.

Well said.

 

[weevles]

Digital Entertainment is still one of their core businesses. If they are retreating to the mobile market, which I suspect they're going to try to, I can still boycott them there.

 

[kamineko]

Well, the article isn't wrong. They've been holding one of my favorite IP's hostage for years. I mean, is there a big future in Suikoden slot machines? I wish they'd sell off what they don't want.

Konami is exiting the console market because it isn't very profitable. Production costs have risen so high that risks are incredibly expensive, which is why we're seeing so few new IPs and so few major releases, period. Only the very few winners at the very top (Call of Duty, GTA, Elder Scrolls) are making real money. To make matters worse, development costs continue to rise relentlessly. And so Konami are leaving, more or less, for other markets like gambling and fitness centers and so forth.

You can't boycott Konami, they're already boycotting you.

This isn't wrong, either. Games cost too much to make, or at least the kinds of games that spawn x00-page threads do. The risk is too great for some companies to accept. For some shareholders to accept. The end result will be (in cases where this is not already so) games that are heavily focus-grouped for the lowest common denominator, flavorless slop at 60 fps.

So many of my favorite old-school games would never even have gotten made in today's risk-averse market. It takes so much just for a game to break even, let alone make money.

 

[Jacksinthe]

Konami's been on a slow gradual decline after the 16 bit era. It was gradual, but it was there. This isn't an overnight thing.

This is true, but you would rather go out with grace than go out having everyone hate you because you're a shitbag.

Fuck Konami.

 

[jstripes]

Konami is exiting the console market because it isn't very profitable. Production costs have risen so high that risks are incredibly expensive, which is why we're seeing so few new IPs and so few major releases, period. Only the very few winners at the very top (Call of Duty, GTA, Elder Scrolls) are making real money. To make matters worse, development costs continue to rise relentlessly. And so Konami are leaving, more or less, for other markets like gambling and fitness centers and so forth.

You can't boycott Konami, they're already boycotting you.

"Gamers", the demographic born through marketing, want big-budget, yearly remakes, and they're getting them. Gaming in general is collapsing in on itself, like a Triple A black hole of shit, because of all this.

There will be maybe 3 big survivors, and Nintendo, but fun gaming has been reborn in the shoestring budget indie world.

 

[paragonpro]

I can't in good nature say I'll never buy a product again from them, because I'm absolutley going to buy the phantom pain, and if rising two comes, God knows I'm not going to miss that, but outside of that, I'll always be hesitant of anything with there logo.

 

[Demon Lizardman]

"Gamers", the demographic born through marketing, want big-budget, yearly remakes, and they're getting them. Gaming in general is collapsing in on itself, like a Triple A black hole of shit, because of all this.

There will be maybe 3 big survivors, and Nintendo, but fun gaming has been reborn in the shoestring budget indie world.

Yeah, Nintendo is always good with their money, they will survive and maybe revive gaming after the inevitable crash.

 

[jstripes]

Yeah, Nintendo is always good with their money, they will survive and maybe revive gaming after the inevitable crash.

Yup. I don't see Nintendo fucking up so bad they go out of business.

They may pull an "Apple", and limp along nearly lifeless for a period, but they'll always find a way to claw back.

But Konami is out of serious gaming. Period.

 

[Doctor Ironic]

This thread was doing pretty alright until people started unironically pulling the "Games are too expensive, market crash part 2 is inevitable!" schtick.

 

[Rich!]

This thread was doing pretty alright until people started unironically pulling the "Games are too expensive, market crash part 2 is inevitable!" schtick.

...but its entirely true.

 

[PtM]

The end result will be (in cases where this is not already so) games that are heavily focus-grouped for the lowest common denominator, flavorless slop at 60 fps.

wat.

 

[Clear]

All this hate started after the news that Kojima was "fired" by Konami...

What if Kojima was the one that fucked Konami and because of him we will not have Silent Hills anymore?

Yes, I know that bomberman, castlevania are not the same as before.. but internet seems to exaggerate sometimes

Indeed, people are being way to reactionary and unthinkingly angry about all this whilst knowing virtually nothing about what's gone on within Konami.

When all's said and done P.T was just a teaser, I don't buy this "part of gaming history" angle at all when for all we know it could get reissued in a modified form at some point when the dust from this internal kerfuffle has died down.

All we know is the Kojima/Del Toro/Reedus project is dead, and because of that it hardly seems logical to keep a promo for it in circulation.

The irony of Klepek's rant is that the Tron Bonne reissue is a prime example of how availability and value perception are interlinked and mutable based more on circumstance than intrinsic value.

 

[Doctor Ironic]

...but its entirely true.

The Xbox One is currently getting absolutely trounced in every single possible market at ridiculous ratios to the Playstation 4. Some markets have it being outsold ten to one. It's still the fastest selling Xbox ever.

Consoles are doing gangbusters, Steam is selling games so well that an increasing number of formerly-averse developers are porting to PC, and recent sales figures suggest that Steam is selling games just as well as consoles have instead of the distant fourth PC gaming used to be. Mobile gaming takes in tons of cash from people who have never played video games before. More people are playing video games and spending more money on them THAN EVER, and stupid people on the Internet are still worried we're headed for a crash?

The end result will be (in cases where this is not already so) games that are heavily focus-grouped for the lowest common denominator, flavorless slop at 60 fps.

Look at this guy acting like 30 fps doesn't sell better and is precisely there as the will of publishers. Nice unrelated agenda in an unrelated argument though, I guess?

 

[jstripes]

The Xbox One is currently getting absolutely trounced in every single possible market at ridiculous ratios to the Playstation 4. Some markets have it being outsold ten to one. It's still the fastest selling Xbox ever.

Consoles are doing gangbusters, Steam is selling games so well that an increasing number of formerly-averse developers are porting to PC, and recent sales figures suggest that Steam is selling games just as well as consoles have instead of the distant fourth PC gaming used to be. Mobile gaming takes in tons of cash from people who have never played video games before. More people are playing video games and spending more money on them THAN EVER, and stupid people on the Internet are still worried we're headed for a crash?

And video games cost more to develop than ever.

By a gigantic margin.

For a lot of companies it's simply not worth it anymore.

 

[Red Mage]

You know how Square has moved a great deal of their products to mobile? How sega has moved virtually all their production there?

How Capcom's output seems muted and slow? How level 5 has begun migrating to mobile, too? And now Konami is heading off to gambling/fitness center/etc. land?

The relentless push of production costs have driven us here, and gamers themselves are a significant driver of that relentless budgetary increase. These companies are, in effect, boycotting "hardcore" gamers -- and they are much better at boycotting gamers than gamers are at boycotting them.

Depends on what you call a hardcore gamer, I suppose. Games like Suikoden and Castlevania (pre-reboot) were not big budget AAA games. As someone who doesn't want that crap and has been a fan of games since the 2600, I'd say that the industry is suffering from the monster it created with this AAA fandom.

It should also be remembered that Suikoden III offers evidence that Konami will get rid of creators for the sake of milking a franchise.

 

[kamineko]

Look at this guy acting like 30 fps doesn't sell better and is precisely there as the will of publishers. Nice unrelated agenda in an unrelated argument though, I guess?

relax, buddy. that is the least significant part of my post. do you have an extension that highlights fps?

 

[Doctor Ironic]

And video games cost more to develop than ever.

By a gigantic margin.

For a lot of companies it's simply not worth it anymore.

Indie games still exist, and you'll notice it's a direction a lot of AAA staff are moving towards.

What you are witnessing is a sea change, not a crash.

 

[Alebrije]

If Konami goes out of the industry where do you think MGS, Silent Hill and other IPs will go?

A) sold to other developer
B) Pachinco machines
C) to oblivion

 

[kamineko]

If Konami goes out of the industry where do you think MGS, Silent Hill and other IPs will go?

A) sold to other developer
B) Pachinco machines
C) to oblivion

I think a mix of B) and C). At least that's what has happened with other IP's


Exciting Suikoden IV Pachislot Action (2010)

 

[SeanTSC]

You know how Square has moved a great deal of their products to mobile? How sega has moved virtually all their production there?

How Capcom's output seems muted and slow? How level 5 has begun migrating to mobile, too? And now Konami is heading off to gambling/fitness center/etc. land?

The relentless push of production costs have driven us here, and gamers themselves are a significant driver of that relentless budgetary increase. These companies are, in effect, boycotting "hardcore" gamers -- and they are much better at boycotting gamers than gamers are at boycotting them.

Square has tried to do mobile and they're not very good at it. 20 dollar phone games no one wants and F2P ones that are universally reviled. It doesn't seem to me like they've really made a huge jump to mobile nor have they been successful with it.

And meanwhile we're still getting tons of big Square games. Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD & 2.5 HD, FFX/X-2 HD and FF Type-0 HD just came out and Final Fantasy XIV ARR is going strong. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Final fantasy XV, Kingdom Hearts 3, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Dragon Quest Heroes 1/2, Bravely Second, and Star Ocean 5 are all on the horizon. It's looking pretty damned good for "core gamer" Square-Enix fans.

 

[jstripes]

Depends on what you call a hardcore gamer, I suppose. Games like Suikoden and Castlevania (pre-reboot) were not big budget AAA games. As someone who doesn't want that crap and has been a fan of games since the 2600, I'd say that the industry is suffering from the monster it created with this AAA fandom.

It should also be remembered that Suikoden III offers evidence that Konami will get rid of creators for the sake of milking a franchise.

Suikoden and Castlevania didn't require a team of 500 artists creating complex 3D models and environments with high-resolution textures. They also haven't sold any significant amount of copies in over a decade.

Welcome to the "HD" age.

Indie games still exist, and you'll notice it's a direction a lot of AAA staff are moving towards.

What you are witnessing is a sea change, not a crash.

It's a crash in the sense that the big players are going to abandon ship or go down in a flaming wreck.

The indie scene will thrive. With all the tools available, it's easier than ever to make a good game with a small staff. But can consoles survive on that and a few big titles a year?

 

[Opiate]

But there are many people here (myself included) advocating for creative, gameplay-focused mid-budget games that rely less on high production values, cinematic experiences, marketing dollars, and "infinite" content.

But when your voting dollars are outpaced by those of the majority of console gamers buying the annual CODs, Battlefields, Assassin's Creeds, and Sports games, as well as the GTAs (to be fair GTAs are really good), it seems there is no convincing these publishers otherwise.

I want to make it clear that I completely agree with this, and definitely do not mean that literally every single gamer is to blame; just the general consumer market that has gradually led consoles to the state they are in. That's not a specific person, and it's not every person, but it's enough of them.

Further, I definitely don't want to suggest that this is exclusively or entirely consumers' faults. Many major studios and publishers have actively encouraged this environment because they stood to gain from it. It's actually to EA's benefit that there are only a few winners -- because, of course, they are one of those few.

With that said, there is clearly a sizeable portion of the console consumer base that ignores virtually everything that isn't very high production, which dismisses handhelds because they aren't huge-giant-screen-expensive-explosions-in-your-face, who demand ever bigger and more "immersive" worlds, and so forth. You may not personally be one of those people -- and that's great -- but a lot of those types of people exist, and their tastes are causing the market to become increasingly less profitable. So much less profitable, in fact, that long standing industry stalwarts are looking for the escape hatch, such as Konami and Sega.

 

[Herman Cain]

Luckily for me I don't really care for any of Konamis games so I won't be feeling the anger most do.

Well ok, I did like Super Cobra. Great classic arcade game, and Gyruss, and a couple others, but Konami's arcade games have been dead for years.

 

[Herman Cain]

I want to make it clear that I completely agree with this, and definitely do not mean that literally every single gamer is to blame; just the general consumer market that has gradually led consoles to the state they are in. That's not a specific person, and it's not every person, but it's enough of them.

Further, I definitely don't want to suggest that this is exclusively or entirely consumers' faults. Many major studios and publishers have actively encouraged this environment because they stood to gain from it. It's actually to EA's benefit that there are only a few winners -- because, of course, they are one of those few.

With that said, there is clearly a sizeable portion of the console consumer base that ignores virtually everything that isn't very high production, which dismisses handhelds because they aren't huge-giant-screen-expensive-explosions-in-your-face, who demand ever bigger and more "immersive" worlds, and so forth. You may not personally be one of those people -- and that's great -- but a lot of those types of people exist, and their tastes are causing the market to become increasingly less profitable. So much less profitable, in fact, that long standing industry stalwarts are looking for the escape hatch, such as Konami and Sega.

I will admit for from 2005-2009 I was one of these AAA people, but I also did play AAA games that didn't cost as much as the upper 30 million dollar AAA developer, which since 2010 the industry has turned into.

 

[D.Lo]

Konami were one of the originators of the 'huge budget event game' with the MGS2 trailer.

Developers and publishers cultivated a market that demands consoles that are too powerful, and games that take advantage of that, and Ms and Sony were happy to oblige by losing billions each with some living room hegemony in mind.

And now here we are. Nobody in Japan can afford to make games, and they have to sell so much to be profitable that marketing has to be 50%+ of the budget.

 

[Meia]

...but its entirely true.

AAA, sure. Not every game needs to be one. Instead of scaling back, Konami's solution is to burn every bridge they ever had and take a risk by placing all their chips in another sector. Is that smart? Guess time will tell.



I keep being reminded by Jim Sterling's "Some developers would rather make none of the money if they can't make all of the money" line from one of his earlier vids, and how it keeps applying to a lot of things here and there...


There is still something to be said that most of my enjoyment from gaming for the past few years have been in efforts that didn't cost a bajillion dollars to be released.

 

[Gentleman Jack]

I keep being reminded by Jim Sterling's "Some developers would rather make none of the money if they can't make all of the money" line from one of his earlier vids, and how it keeps applying to a lot of things here and there...

With respect to Jim's point, does it make sense for Konami to keep an increasingly expensive business segment in a very competitive, high risk market going just for the 'some money' it produces or does it make sense for them, as a business who needs to grow to sustain itself, to refocus in other segments that are actually growing?

 

[Meia]

With respect to Jim's point, does it make sense for Konami to keep an increasingly expensive business segment in a very competitive, high risk market going just for the 'some money' it produces or does it make sense for them, as a business who needs to grow to sustain itself, to refocus in other segments that are actually growing?

Sure it makes sense. It also makes sense for these Japanese developers to realize their gaming budget doesn't need to be so astronomical for a game to be "good". Graphics are part of something like this, sure, as was the scope, but I'm fairly certain their VA budget was also a ton more than it should have been considering their change of voice talent...


Let us not forget that this is the same company that royally fucked up an HD release of something that should have made them money hand over fist, as well as possibly revitalized one of their IPs if they didn't screw it up from moment one.

 

[dead souls]

With respect to Jim's point, does it make sense for Konami to keep an increasingly expensive business segment in a very competitive, high risk market going just for the 'some money' it produces or does it make sense for them, as a business who needs to grow to sustain itself, to refocus in other segments that are actually growing?

Ding.Ding.Ding.

Making AAA games in 2015 is a fool's errand.

 

[ShogunDarius]

It's definitely possible.

Can you imagine the budget of 4K games?

I have a saying, Graphics, they don't make a good game bad nor do they make a bad game good. I think it's time that instead of trying to make games look the best they as developers/publishers should try and make the games play the best instead. I mean hitting a resolution and a frame rate is good but just reduce the overall graphics, save some money and just make the game good. A good looking bad game will always be a bad game.

 

[Raysod]

Ground Zeroes sold 2 million, how is that a failure for a demo? Sure it didn't sell 5-6 million like all mainline games, but GZ wasn't a mainline game in the first place, it was a prologue/demo.

Considering how much money Konami put on the development of Metal Gear V, 2 million sales for Ground Zeros, a game (or a glorified demo) that was released on every possible platform available (last gen, next gen and PC – thus hundreds of million users), is a failure because it clearly shows as a picture on how many people are generally still interested in the franchise…

I was expecting a lot more sales for the behemoth that is MGS V, even its prologue…

 

[Dusk Golem]

Considering how much money Konami put on the development of Metal Gear V, 2 million sales for Ground Zeros, a game (or a glorified demo) that was released on every possible platform available (last gen, next gen and PC – thus hundreds of million users), is a failure because it clearly shows as a picture on how many people are generally still interested in the franchise…

I was expecting a lot more sales for the behemoth that is MGS V, even its prologue…

I'm pretty sure most people didn't buy it due to controversies at the time about the $40 pricetag for an hour long game, it was a pretty big deal back when it came out and I know many passed on it for that, including a lot of MGS fans and people I know.

I feel like trying to pinpoint on it selling 2 million not being up to series standards showing people's interest in MGSV and not being affected majorally by other facts to be a very cherry-picked viewpoint.

 

[Raysod]

I'm pretty sure most people didn't buy it due to controversies at the time about the $40 pricetag for an hour long game, it was a pretty big deal back when it came out and I know many passed on it for that, including a lot of MGS fans and people I know.

I feel like trying to pinpoint on it selling 2 million not being up to series standards showing people's interest in MGSV and not being affected majorally by other facts to be a very cherry-picked viewpoint.

You make a very good point, but still I am not very optimistic in how well MGS V will do on retail…

MGS 4 sold around 6 million copies in its lifetime (in one platform) and I am expecting MGS V to do something similar (multiplatform release), but I don’t know if that’s enough to recoup its development costs…

Especially now that Konami angered most of its hardcore fun base and people are divided if they are going to buy the game or not…

At this moment I just hope that it will be a great game and nothing else…

MGS V Ground Zeroes retails for 15 euros where i live and people still dont buy it...

 

[Alo0oy]

You make a very good point, but still I am not very optimistic in how well MGS V will do on retail…

MGS 4 sold around 6 million copies in its lifetime (in one platform) and I am expecting MGS V to do something similar (multiplatform release), but I don’t know if that’s enough to recoup its development costs…

Especially now that Konami angered most of its hardcore fun base and people are divided if they are going to buy the game or not…

At this moment I just hope that it will be a great game and nothing else…

MGS V Ground Zeroes retails for 15 euros where i live and people still dont buy it...

How can a game not be profitable if it sells over 6 million? You're reading too much into SE's hyperbole, 6 million units means ~360 million USD gross revenue, & just as point of reference, GTA5's budget was 233 million USD including marketing, & that game had the biggest launch ever.

MGS5's budget is 80 million MAX, if Sony/MS/Valve take their share from the 360$ million gross revenue, that leaves 250$ million, & after retailers take their cut, that would leave 200 million to cover the budget of MGS5. & I didn't count any additional revenue from DLC or the "demo".

If 6 million units isn't profitable, EA wouldn't be making Mass Effect 4 & Ubisoft wouldn't be making Far Cry, same thing applies to Mortal Kombat, The Witcher, & Batman.

All of the games above probably have a much higher budget than MGS5, & none of them has a chance of selling over 6 million (except maybe Far Cry 4), & MGS5 is very likely to sell better than all of them.

 

[border]

If 6 million units isn't profitable, EA wouldn't be making Mass Effect 4 & Ubisoft wouldn't be making Far Cry, same thing applies to Mortal Kombat, The Witcher, & Batman.

All of the games above probably have a much higher budget than MGS5, & none of them has a chance of selling over 6 million (except maybe Far Cry 4), & MGS5 is very likely to sell better than all of them.

Except for GTA5 none of those games had a 5+ year development cycle like Phantom Pain, compounded with the cost of building an entirely new cross platform game-engine on top of it. I think you are underestimating the cost of MGS5 -- or vastly overestimating the cost of stuff like Mortal Kombat and Far Cry.

 

[Alo0oy]

Except for GTA5 none of those games had a 5+ year development cycle like Phantom Pain, compounded with the cost of building an entirely new cross platform game-engine on top of it. I think you are underestimating the cost of MGS5 -- or vastly overestimating the cost of stuff like Mortal Kombat and Far Cry.

Kojima productions has 200 employees.

Ubisoft meanwhile has thousands of developers working on their games, Bioware has over 800 employees, Neatherrealms has over 250, CD Projekt Red has over 230 employees.

 

[NinjamicWZ]

#PS4share

 

[TheGreatDirector]

Repost from the P.T. thread

 

[border]

Kojima productions has 200 employees.

Ubisoft meanwhile has thousands of developers working on their games, Bioware has over 800 employees, Neatherrealms has over 250, CD Projekt Red has over 230 employees.

Aside from CDPR, all those developers have either been working on multiple games at the same time or have seen much shorter turnaround. NetherRealm for example has turned out a game every 2 years. The number of AAA games with 5 or more years of dev time is pretty limited. Bungie and Rockstar North got a lot of time, but I'm not sure if KojiPro can deliver the same level of sales as Destiny or GTA.

Irrational Games had ~5 years to work on Bioshock Infinite and they only had 91 employees at the time 2K shut them down (according to Wikipedia). So I'm not sure if running lean is necessarily a safeguard against financial disaster, since there is an opportunity cost associated with long dev times and publishers almost surely take that into account.

 

[Astral Dog]

Konami is exiting the console market because it isn't very profitable. Production costs have risen so high that risks are incredibly expensive, which is why we're seeing so few new IPs and so few major releases, period. Only the very few winners at the very top (Call of Duty, GTA, Elder Scrolls) are making real money. To make matters worse, development costs continue to rise relentlessly. And so Konami are leaving, more or less, for other markets like gambling and fitness centers and so forth.

You can't boycott Konami, they're already boycotting you.

Damn the harsh reality, feels like a brick to the face.

 

[Circinus]

I think they're awesome for having created many great games in the first place.

If they don't consider their AAA console/PC games business within Konami Digital Entertainment to be not that viable anymore, then so be it. It's unfortunate of course. But that's it imo.

"Gamers", the demographic born through marketing, want big-budget, yearly remakes, and they're getting them. Gaming in general is collapsing in on itself, like a Triple A black hole of shit, because of all this.

There will be maybe 3 big survivors, and Nintendo, but fun gaming has been reborn in the shoestring budget indie world.

Lots of needless drama. If you look at the finances of the AAA publishers (Activision Blizzard, EA, Ubisoft, Take Two, Square Enix etc), most of them are doing just fine. There is no collapse or 'crash' in sight at all.

 

[Jigorath]

Konami is exiting the console market because it isn't very profitable. Production costs have risen so high that risks are incredibly expensive, which is why we're seeing so few new IPs and so few major releases, period. Only the very few winners at the very top (Call of Duty, GTA, Elder Scrolls) are making real money. To make matters worse, development costs continue to rise relentlessly. And so Konami are leaving, more or less, for other markets like gambling and fitness centers and so forth.

You can't boycott Konami, they're already boycotting you.

There's nothing stopping publishers from creating cheaper games. Two of the most successful games in the last few years are Minecraft and Skylanders. And nobody plays those for their graphical prowess. It's not our fault they're so desperate to outspend the competition that they're going to run themselves into bankruptcy.

 

[legacyzero]

 

[Opiate]

There's nothing stopping publishers from creating cheaper games. Two of the most successful games in the last few years are Minecraft and Skylanders. And nobody plays those for their graphical prowess. It's not our fault they're so desperate to outspend the competition that they're going to run themselves into bankruptcy.

The home console market consumer base has punished "B" tier titles pretty heavily over the last decade or so. It isn't as if EA is the only one which stopped publishing mid-tier games; the companies that thrived off "B" tier content have mostly died, such as THQ and Midway. With that said, I definitely agree that the very biggest publishers have actively encouraged the market environment we see today -- EA doesn't mind if the market is dominated by just a few winners, because they are one of those few. I definitely agree with that.

Please note also that I'm only speaking about consoles here: the PC, iOS, and handheld markets have all been a bit more tolerant of lower production values (although of course none are perfect, and every market has its own flaws, too).

 

[ninanuam]

I just realised something, and I know this is pure speculation but this thought just burst into my head literally waking me up. Ive read most of the thread and have seen no mention of this as far as I can see.

I think KONAMI might be making a once in a lifetime play here.

1. right now there is some new gambling legislation making its way through Japanese parliament that actually has a very good chance of passing

http://www.pokernews.com/news/2015/04/casinos-bill-hits-japan-parliament-21407.htm

2, KONAMI make a fuck ton of slot machines, not just Pachinko.

With their history of service industry investment (health clubs) I think KONAMI may be freeing up every bit of capital it may have in order to get first mover status on having the first Vegas or Macau style casino in Japan, filled with its own slots.

Actually had anther thought, one a little more depressing, they might attempt a rollout of the more "club style" casinos converting some or all of their health clubs into small slot palaces with some other functionality like the club model in Australia, this would still take tremendous funds. This option would make me depressed as I find Australian clubs so very depressing but I kind of the like entertainment style gambling found in Vegas style casinos.

Either way, I do think KONAMI's recent moves have a lot to do with that bit of legislation.

 

[bistromathics]

Had no idea this spawned a thread. I was too busy watching the Bulls roll over to LeBron last night.

The criticism about the headline is interesting. I've only been at Kotaku/Gawker a few months, but one of the things they/we try to do is reflect the emotion of pieces. When we come up with a headline, the author pitches a few in a group chat, and we mull over the one that works best, tweak them, etc. I came up with a few others:

With P.T.'s Deletion, Konami Is Erasing Gaming History
Konami Sucks
The Problems With P.T.'s Deletion Are Bigger Than P.T.
I Really Hate Konami Right Now

Those are the four I pitched. All of them are accurate to the post. #2 and #4 were mostly jokes, but I did feel that way! Everyone immediately gravitated towards the second one, so we went with it. Yes, it's slightly hyperbolic, but done so in a way that's meant to capture how myself (and other players) feel about a piece of gaming history being trashed without thought or explanation.

So criticism noted, but I feel okay about it.



I spent days researching a Let's Play story that went up earlier in the day. (Perhaps understandably, it did a fraction of the traffic.)

http://kotaku.com/who-invented-lets-play-videos-1702390484#_ga=1.243881541.1195355817.1427382822

Feel free to click on that one and support our ability to research interesting stories!

And that's why I stopped following Kotaku and switched to gaf so many years ago. It's sad when you gotta resort to click-bait articles, but that is the nature of the business I suppose. Click earned for the Lets Play article though. And best of luck at Kotaku.

 

[Terrell]

Konami is exiting the console market because it isn't very profitable. Production costs have risen so high that risks are incredibly expensive, which is why we're seeing so few new IPs and so few major releases, period. Only the very few winners at the very top (Call of Duty, GTA, Elder Scrolls) are making real money. To make matters worse, development costs continue to rise relentlessly. And so Konami are leaving, more or less, for other markets like gambling and fitness centers and so forth.

You can't boycott Konami, they're already boycotting you.

I guess Jim Sterling is right.

They'd rather have none of the money than some of the money if they can't have ALL the money.

I don't disagree with your assertion that Konami thinks this way. I disagree with the assertion that the only way to exist in the dedicated hardware games market is with AAA releases.

Hell, they bought Hudson, a company with few to no IPs with AAA stature and then did nothing with them. If they really didn't see any value in it, why spend the damn money in the first place?

If you don't think that your teams are capable of giving you AAA exposure, why keep them on the payroll to do nothing like they did with Team Silent while farming out their legacy to halfwit developers who did a worse job than the team you shunned ever could?

It's not that they're boycotting us gamers, it's that they think that either they are smarter than we are or that we are too stupid to notice that they dug their own grave.

 

[Mr. X]

Did anyone post about when Konami pulled Skullgirls off PSN/XBL?

Here's a tweet about it from a few days ago https://twitter.com/Skullgirls/status/597581781278334976

 

[Rebel Leader]

I don't know.. I can't remember
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Meanwhile:

Exclusive video inside the konami CEO office